Not Unwilling
by phantomworks
Summary: Atem is the Pharaoh of Egypt, but he prefers guys and the council is afriad that he will bear no heir. Yugi is a harem slave yet he must keep this a secret to protect himself from his past. Will the Pharaoh try to break this distance between them?
1. Chapter 1

Phantomworks: I don't own Yugioh or its characters, only this fanfic.

Chapter 1

"Yugi! Yugi!" a blue –eyed brunette ran up to a tricolor haired teen, her dress billowing behind her as she ran. "I need my new dress pronto! Can you please go get it for me?" she begged.

The tri-color haired teed whined, "What do you need it for, Téa?"

"I need it for tonight! The Pharaoh will come down tonight and see me and take me and make me his queen and ple~ase?" Téa begged, using puppy dog eyes. Normally, they would work if her victim didn't have equal if not a better version of them himself.

"No Téa, you know that it's dangerous for me to go out of the palace!" Amethyst eyes glared up from under blonde bangs.

"Oh please Yugi? You're already going out to do your job! Just get it on the way in." the girl persisted.

"Rrrrgh, fine. But you have to pay me and pay for the dress. I'm not spending my hard-earned money on you." Yugi crossed his arms while Téa pouted fiercely.

"Oh fine! Here!" she shoved money into his waiting hand. Then she took off back to the harem chambers, shouting back over her shoulder, "Don't get an ugly one!"

Yugi sighed, his shoulders sagging. _So in the end I gave into her. Well at least I got paid. _He thought, remembering how it had been before. Back when he'd had a crush on her, Téa had taken advantage of him every chance she got. Many times nearly led to him being captures and killed, but she still asked him to go and he still listened to her. Even after his crush had passed, she still tried to take advantage of him, but he was getting better at saying 'no'.

_Okay, time to go._ Yugi thought as he donned the disguise cloak he often used. He covered his tri-colored hair under the hood and fixed the arms to hide his bronze bracelets. Stuffing the money into his pocket for later, he began his secret trek from the harem quarters to one of the lesser guarded gates.

_All I need to do is slip past the guards and out through the hole in the wall. _Yugi went over the plan in his head as he moved silently through the shadows. Clinging to the wall, he carefully maneuvered his way along his usual path and to the hole in the 5ft. thick wall. Shoving the covering –a barrel- out of the way, Yugi crawled in and pulled the barrel back in place.

Then he turned around and moved the identical barrel out of his way and crawled into the fresher and busier air of the market place. He inhaled and exhaled deeply before re-hiding his escape route.

"Hey Yugi! What are you doing here?" Yugi didn't even have time to turn towards the voice before he was tackle/glomped to the ground by his friend.

"I could ask you the same, Mana." Yugi groaned as he tried to shove her off of himself so he could get up. "Aren't you supposed to be having lessons at the moment?"

"Erm…" her face darkened a little when a shout rose above the crowd.

"Mana? Mana! Get back here!" a man untangled himself from the throng and stopped breathless beside the two. Once his breath was regained, he fixed a playfully deadly glare onto his apprentice.

"What do you think you're doing out in public? And who is this?" the magician demanded. It was Mahaado. Yugi had caught glimpses of him around the palace, but he'd never come this close to the made.

"W-well, I was l-looking around for th-the stuff o-on the list and –I ran into Yugi!" Mana desperately tried to change the subject. "Yugi, this is Master Mahaado, the Pharaoh's personal mage. Master Mahaado, this is Yugi he's a-?"

"A friend." Yugi quickly covered Mana's mouth with his hand. Mahaado looked at him funny.

"Right, Mana?" Yugi plastered on a smile, but that façade was broken when he felt something warm and slimy trail along the palm of his hand, "Ew! Did you just lick my hand? That's gross!" his hands retreated to be wiped off on his cloak.

"Yucky! Sand! Phbt!" Mana spit out the contents of her mouth onto the sand, wiping her tongue excessively. "Ew! Yucky!"

Now Mahaado looked really confused but amused at the same time. He stood watching the two argue for a time before he called attention back to himself. "Mana, we must go now. The Pharaoh will not wait all day for his potion. Come along."

Mana hopped up, releasing Yugi who was trapped under her minutes before. Mahaado offered the young teen a hand, "it was nice meeting you, Yugi. May we meet in the future."

Yugi stared at the hand, but stood up on his own. _If I shake hands, chances are he'll see the palace slave bracelets and I'll be found out. Can't let him see. _ Yugi bowed his head respectfully, "As do I, Master Mage."

Mahaado looked thrown off by the slightly cold response, but chalked it up to the difference in positions and withdrew his hand, "Farewell young Yugi." The mage waved as he and his apprentice disappeared into the throng of the market.

Yugi breathed a sigh of relief and took off at a run to get to his secret job. _That was a close one. I can't have anyone finding out that I'm a slave, and a harem slave at that! Certainly not the Pharaoh's mage!_

Phantomworks; okay, don't forget to vote.

**Alice; poll ends Oct. 5****th**

Phantomworks; until then, be on the lookout for new releases for the poll.


	2. Chapter 2

Phantomworks;… yeah, I'm not going to write anything 'cept the disclaimer now…

**Alice; you better.**

Phantomworks: I don't own Yugioh or its characters, only this fanfic.

Chapter 2

The Pharaoh rested his head on the back of his throne. "That is enough for the moment. I require a brief respite." That was all the teen said as he stood up, stretching and walking down the small steps that led to his throne.

"My Pharaoh, the potion is brewing as we speak and the council men are arguing once more over your coming of age." Mahaado appeared at his side.

"Again? When will they learn?" I've already told them that I prefer men." The {pharaoh's red eyes narrowed at nothing in particular as he paced the now almost completely empty throne room, trying to regain feeling in his legs.

"Yes, however, recently they have heard rumors of a city inhabited entirely by men. They had looked into it and are currently discussing matters. They could find a match for you yet."

"On that won't produce an heir, though. So what's the point of discussions?" the Pharaoh stretched his arms about his head.

"What makes you so sure of that?" Mahaado asked an ominous tone in his voice. The Pharaoh looked at him, quizzitively. "The village is completely male. No female are born among them, however they still thrive. Does that not make you wonder why?"

"They got women from somewhere else." The Pharaoh reasoned.

"No, no woman has stepped foot in that village for hundreds, possibly thousands of years nor did then men leave and come back with a child." Mahaado struck down the next theory before it could arise. The Pharaoh stopped in his tracks.

"Then, you mean-?" Ruby eyes glistened with interest at this abnormality.

"Yes. All children are male born, Atem." A deep voice belonging to another entered the room.

"Ah, Priest Seth. How are you this day?" the mage greeted respectfully.

"Well enough, Magician Mahaado." The priest replied.

"How is it that you know of this, cousin?" Atem asked.

"How so indeed, my Pharaoh. I was traveling with the council men that have just arrived back from discussions. There is much different between their society and our own though, I must say." The priest led them thought the palace to the small private dining hall next to the kitchen where they sat down.

"How so?" Atem pressed.

"Their roles for example. There is a division between two groups, though they inter mingle. I'm not quite sure how to phrase it, but there are those that are more… dominant than the other more submissive ones. The more submissive ones take on the roles of the women in our society where as the others take the lead in government and military skills." Seth paused to think.

"How did this come about?" Mahaado asked.

"The story I heard was that a beautiful woman named 'Anzu' was so prideful of her image that she became vain. The gods were angry with her and as such, cursed her to only have male children. This way she could not have a child that beared her resemblance. However, her descendants as well could only bear males and soon their village ran them out into the desert. The gods regretted their decision because her descendants did not deserve such treatment, but the curse could not be undone. Therefore, they laid a new spell, enabling the men to bear children as well. Through this, they are now a thriving community that has kept to itself all these years even while under your rule." The priest finished.

"Interesting! Very much so." The pharaoh leaned back on his chair, deep in thought. Finally he spoke again, "So this village could –in essence- solve my preference problem?"

The royal never got an answer as the doors to the dining hall were thrown open and a guard ran in.

"What is the meaning of this?" Atem shot to his feet followed closely by his mage and priest.

"Sir!" the guard bowed low to the ground. "We have caught an intruder!"

Phantomworks: da-da-duh!

**Alice; really? ****You're leaving us like that?**

Phantomworks; oh of course not, I'll post the next chapter with this one. Don't worry so much!

**Alice; oh good.**


	3. Chapter 3

Phantomworks; I don't own Yugioh or its characters, only this fanfic.

Chapter 3

This was all Téa's fault! Yugi just _had_ to go back and get the dress during the change of guard. Then when he tried to sneak back in, he'd been spotted.

In fact, he had been spotted twice that evening. The first time while sneaking in from the hole in the wall, Yugi had been seen by a rookie guard and had easily out-smarted, out-maneuvered, and out-ran the guard.

The second time, however, Yugi wasn't so lucky. He had been mere feet from the harem's back door when the guards had spotted him. There were five this time -bigger, stronger and faster- and in the end they had surrounded him.

Yugi had been dragged to the throne room, Téa's dress in a bag in one of the guard's arms. Once there, the guards forced him to his knees in an awkward bow as one ran off to inform the king. They held his hands behind his back as they all waited.

"You should know that it isn't smart to try and enter the king's harem room. No man but the Pharaoh be allowed in." one guard growled at Yugi. The smaller was so tempted to snap back a mean comment by he knew it would get him in more trouble. So instead he settled for glaring a hole in the stone floor.

The rushed sound of footsteps made Yugi's skin prickle. It was the Pharaoh come to give him his death sentence or perhaps execution… Hmm… maybe that was a good thing. At least that way, Yugi wouldn't be forced to… _entertain_ the Pharaoh, though there was little chance of that happening in the first place.

"What is going on here? Who is that?" Yugi heard a deep voice demand. The voice made his skin crawl and he continued to glare at the floor.

"We found this intruder right before he infiltrated the royal harems sir." One of the guards said.

"What was he doing there?"

"Well you know that many a man has his eyes on the beauties of your harem an-"

"No, I mean, how did he get there? He would've had to pass over fifty guards between the palace front gates and the harem chambers. How. Did. He. Get. There?"

Yugi couldn't help but grin in revenge as he stole a glance at the guard. The poor thing was standing there, dumbfounded and mouth gaping as he was unable to respond to the question of his incompetency. It was really quite comical.

The guard glared down at his captive who was staring at him with an arrogant look. He growled and gave his captive a quick kick, enjoying the pain on the smaller's face.

"There is no answer?" the Pharaoh's voice asked when no answer was forth coming.

"I don't know your highness. Maybe the little thief has secret routes or maybe even inside help. We should torture him for the information." The guard suggested. Yugi paled considerably, but refused to show his fear. This wasn't playing out the way he had planned.

"I doubt that will be necessary, my Pharaoh." Yugi was surprised by the words and voice. He hadn't known Master Mahaado had come in. "My apprentice is friends with this man. He was most likely coming to visit her."

"Then what is the meaning of this?" the guard nodded toe the one holding Yugi's bag. Bag falling to the ground, Téa's dress was revealed in all of its gaudy glory. Personally, Yugi didn't want to be seen near the thing, but Téa liked those kinds of dresses and she was the one who had asked for it.

"Well?" the guard dared Yugi to challenge his assumption.

"I bought that with my own money!" Yugi defended himself. Sure it wasn't exactly his money, but it wasn't stolen!

"Yes, but for who?" the guard asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Could it not also be for Mahaado's apprentice?" the Pharaoh reasoned.

"I should think not. Mana t'would not wear such a thing if her life depended on it. I'm sure this man knows for they sounded like close friends when they met earlier today." Mahaado showed confusion thoroughly in his voice, but still Yugi refused to look up.

"Is this true?" the Pharaoh asked. Yugi assumed that he was talking to him.

"The dress is not for my friend, Mana, my pharaoh." Yugi hoped the words didn't sound too hateful as he spat them out. They left a weird taste in his mouth.

There was a moment of silence before the trial commence again, "Then who was it for?"

"Another friend." Yugi answered vaguely. His arm was twisted behind his back and he gave a short cry of pain before panting out, "Téa! It was for Téa! She gave me money to buy her a dress so I did!"

The pain vanished as the force was lifted from his arm. He panted from the left over throbbing of pain.

"Téa? Who is Téa?" the Pharaoh asked, confused.

_So much for your prince charming, Téa._ Yugi inwardly laughed at how Téa would look right about now. "You know not the names of your harem, my king?" Yugi inquired.

"SEE?" the guard exclaimed, giving Yugi another kick. "Did I not tell you, my lord?"

"Yugi gritted his teeth against the pain in his side. He really didn't want to look weaker than he already did.

"How would you know of a member of my harem? Are you trying to court her?" the Pharaoh asked, though something was off. He didn't… sound mad.

"Is that why you bought her the dress?"

"Courting? Her? Oh please, she just uses me for errands." Yugi explained a bit annoyed at the mere thought. Had he been asked a few years earlier, he would've said 'yes' but now…

"How is this of importance, my pharaoh? What matters is that he has stolen into your palace, past fifty guards might I remind you and tried to enter your harem quarters, claiming to be friends with the women." The accursed guard directed them back to the main problem right when Yugi had seen hope of escape.

"It does sound a bit fishy." The Pharaoh conceded, "How is a civilian able to be friends with my harem when the women don't leave the palace?"

The guard's eyes gleamed with dark victory. Yugi's eyes flashed fear before he hurriedly explained, "I too am a slave of the Pharaoh! I live within these palace walls! It's not uncommon for the harem to roam and I meet a few every day!"

"And now he claims to be a slave! How desperate he must be!" the guard taunted. Yugi glared up at the guard as the Pharaoh thought over what had been said.

"Do you have proof?" Mahaado asked, shocked that the friend of his apprentice was a palace slave. Well, it would explain how the two had met.

Yugi grew quiet, not really wanting his secret to be discovered, but also knew it was the only way out. Alive that is. He took a deep breath, "Yes."

He lifted his gaze from the floor to Mahaado and the near-by priest and then to the fiery gaze of the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh! The man looked splendid in his fine linens, red cape and gold ornaments. However, that's not what got Yugi's attention. It was the fact that they looked near-exactly the same!

… Sorta.

Their hair was the same style and tri-coloring however the pharaoh had a wilder look to his with more bangs and red coloring instead of violet. They both had unusual eyes, but where Yugi's held innocent amethyst, the pharaoh's held commanding red. Their skin as well was tan, yet the Pharaoh's was a much darker tan than Yugi's own. So in short-

They were nothing alike.

And Yugi hated him.

He hated the man that had unknowingly kept him in slavery. Hated the man that could take everything precious away from him. Now he hated him even more for this man now held his very life in his hands. The Pharaoh, the man currently examining Yugi just as the other examined him, was a threat to the slave's existence.

After a moment of silence, the Pharaoh ordered, "Search him."

The guard growled, but obeyed none the less. Twisting his captive's arm back, he shoved –practically ripped- Yugi's sleeve away from the small wrist. The slave cringed, but refused to cry out in pain again.

There was silence as the guard stared at the bracelet that marked Yugi as a slave. His face grew darker as he growled, what trickery is this?"

"Is there proof?" Mahaado asked.

"No, this is a harem bracelet! Looks like the thief has made a mistake!" Yugi tried to look at his wrist, confused. There were different bracelets for each palace job?

"I would say that he stole it from the harem so that he could return to it at anytime!" the guard continued, holding up Yugi's wrist for the Pharaoh to see. The bracelet on the smaller's wrist was the typical bronze used to slaves and it was sealed shut so that it would never come off. In the center of the bracelet, a small ruby was attached, not unlike the color of the Pharaoh's eyes. Yugi had three others exactly the same –one on his other wrist and on his ankles. All the slaves he saw (the harem now that he thought about it) had the same so he hadn't given much thought to it…

Yugi suddenly had a very bad feeling about this.

"Is this true?" the {pharaoh asked. Yugi couldn't quite tell what kind of tone it was the Pharaoh used, but he didn't like it. The smaller didn't say a word, his eyes glaring at the ground again.

"The thief has dug his own grave!" the guard cheered, "Look, he has not denied the accusations!"

"If you do not speak, then you shall be put to death." The Pharaoh warned harshly. Yugi grinned and looked back up at his 'master'.

"I hate you. I'd rather be dead than entertain the likes of you. It matters not if I'm your slave or a thief. Either way, I choose death." Yugi hissed. The Pharaoh stared at him wide-eyed. It was probably a shock to the ruler to have someone hate him so.

"Mahaado, Seth, come here." The Pharaoh called them to his throne. There was a brief conference before 'Seth' broke from the group and walked to where Yugi was on his knees. Quickly, he examined the slave bracelet and checked the other arm to see an identical one.

"These are made in the old style that we quit using little more than 10 harvests ago." Yugi could barely head the priest whisper, "When were the bracelets sealed?"

Yugi gritted his teeth.

"If you do not answer, the Pharaoh will torture you until you beg for release." The priest threatened. Release? As in death? Yugi shuddered slightly at the thought of a fate worse than death.

"12 harvests ago when I was by four." Yugi answered quickly and quietly. The priest nodded, seeming to make a few calculation and assumptions in his head. Then he turned and walked away. As soon as his back was turned, the guard kicked Yugi again, receiving a small whimper of pain for his effort.

"If you injure him one more time, you will be relieved of your position and take the place among slaves!" The Pharaoh threatened, icily. The guard took a step back in surprise as the three began their discussion once more.

Yugi had a sickening feeling settle in the pit of his stomach as the mage and priest turned to face him, the Pharaoh standing up.

"We have come to a decision." The Pharaoh proclaimed.

Phantomworks;…

**Alice;…**

Phantomworks;…..

**Alice;…. So what it is?**

Phantomworks; what?

**Alice; the decision?**

Phantomworks; oh, you have to find out in the next chapter.

**Alice; then type it.**

Phantomworks: no. not until after Bye Atem.

**Alice; what? You can't leave us like this!**

Phantomworks; I just did. (^^)


End file.
